Vaccine adjuvants are one of many components included in vaccines to enhance immune response to the presented antigen in order to, for example, decrease the time before acquisition of immunity following vaccination, increase the potency/time-span of acquired immunity, and/or decrease the amount of antigen required for protection. Adjuvants have been used since the early 20th Century to enhance an immune response to an antigen. The need for adjuvants as components of vaccines is acute, as newer antigens are weak immunogens or have limited availability. There is currently only one adjuvant approved for use in human vaccines in the U.S. That adjuvant, alum salts, poses little safety risk, but provides only a modest increase in adaptive immune response in many contexts.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for adjuvants capable of increasing adaptive immune responses, as well as for highly immunogenic, effective vaccines which contain these adjuvants.